Hidden Chanukkah
by katbybee
Summary: Carter secretly helps some fellow prisoners in a very dangerous way...knowing for sure that the risk is worth the effort. I was inspired to write this story after celebrating Chanukkah with my family this year. My daughter is a Messianic Jew. This story is dedicated to the memory of her father.


_A/N: This story is in memory of David…who celebrated Chanukkah in Heaven this year. We miss you._

~HH~

Andrew Carter had been poking around some of the storage tunnels, looking for spare wire for his latest demolitions project, when he had heard low voices drifting from one of the unused tunnels. He also heard quiet singing…though he could not make out the words. His curiosity got the better of him…and he followed the voices.

He realized immediately that he had happened on a ceremony, or a church service, being held by a few of the prisoners. He knew that different groups of men held services in the different barracks, and that the camp at large used the rec hall for things like Taffy's Christmas Eve service…but his eyes widened when he realized that this service was very different…and one that could get every prisoner present executed in the blink of an eye.

Memories flooded Andrew as he sat, listening to the hushed voices. He did not understand all the actual words, but he remembered the sound of them very well indeed. " _Avram_ …" he whispered. And he was transported back to his hometown, and to the day he had stood outside the temple in Crabapple Junction. His new friend, Avram Stein, stood next to him, also gazing at the building.

"That's where you go to church?" Carter, aged ten had asked curiously. "How come you go on Saturdays?"

And Avram, then a few weeks shy of his tenth birthday, had explained…and the boys had quickly become inseparable. Avram spent nearly as much time at the Carter homestead, as Andrew did at Avram's modest home in Crabapple Junction. It was not that hard for them to get together, since the schools were all located in the Junction. And Andrew's love and respect for the Stein family and for their culture and religion had grown over the years, as did Avram's fascination with the blend of Lakota and Norwegian culture and customs that guided Andrew's home life.

Both boys dreamed of going to college together…and someday maybe even sharing an apartment in the city- maybe even in Chicago, or someplace equally as exciting. They dreamed about the girls they would meet, and the things they would do. But, for reasons Carter never really understood, it was not to be. Avram was killed in a terrible car accident the September before they turned 15. Avram's mother was heartbroken, and his family moved to Montana a few months later. And Andrew had vowed he would never allow anyone close again…

Six weeks later, he blew up his high school chemistry lab and half the auditorium. Everyone assured each other it was only an accident. Carter never said a word about it one way or the other, and if anyone had any doubts, they never voiced them. Andrew tried to never let his emotions get the better of him again.

Eventually, life moved on and years later, Carter found himself in a prison camp in Germany, and he broke his own rule. Though he never forgot Avram, he gained a new best friend… …a coarse, irascible RAF corporal who became like a brother to him. And Peter Newkirk had been helping him survive Stalag 13 ever since.

Carter shook himself out of his memories, and sat back on his heels, considering what he had just learned. The prisoners holding the secret _Shabbat_ service needed something. Something he knew he could provide. The next time he went out on a mission, he kept a sharp eye out for exactly what he needed. It took a few furtive searches, but eventually, he found it.

The prisoners holding services in that dark, deserted tunnel had never known he was there. Of course, he kept their secret. Kept it even from Newkirk. And in his tunnel lab, he worked on his project. He kept it hidden, and worked on it every chance he got. It was slow going…and he was afraid he would mess it up, but finally, it was done. Just in time. He had been keeping track of his deadline, so he knew exactly when to visit the tunnel again. He prayed the services were still being held.

Andrew slipped quietly behind a support beam, and watched the men gather. He held his gift and waited until they were all there. The one who seemed to be the leader spoke sadly, and yet with a determination that laced his words with steel. He spoke in hushed tones, in Hebrew. Andrew was surprised he could still understand many of the words.

"It is the first night of Chanukkah. A time our people have celebrated for thousands of years. We have celebrated despite threats of death many times before…and we do so again tonight. My one regret is that, although we know God is merciful, and we hope He will understand, we have no menorah, nor candles to light one. And so—"

Andrew stepped from his hiding spot at that moment. He knew they would panic if he said nothing, therefore, he quietly said in Hebrew, "יש לי מתנה בשבילך." *

Startled, the men turned to him. One of them, a young corporal by the name of Baumann, stared at him. "Andrew? I didn't know you spoke Hebrew!"

Carter smiled and switched to English. "I don't…not much at least. But, I have something for you. I don't know if it needs to be blessed properly or anything, but I figured God would get it."

And he held out an intricately carved wooden menorah, and a paper bag containing 45 plain white candles to the young corporal. "I bought the candles over time, so no one would get suspicious about so many at once."

Baumann looked at Andrew curiously. "Why, Carter? Why would you risk your life to do this? If they had caught you, you would have been shot instantly."

Andrew smiled sadly as the memory of Avram's smile haunted him for a moment. "Let's just say I did it for a friend, and leave it at that."

And the men in the tunnels stared at Andrew in shock and gratitude for a moment. And then, they wept.

~The End~

A/N: *Roughly translated, יש לי מתנה בשבילך." means, "I have a gift for you."


End file.
